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{From November 25th (International End Violence Against Women Day) through December 10th (International Human Rights Day), USAID joins the international community for 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. During this time IMPACT will highlight USAID’s work to combat gender-based violence.}

In Rwanda, in 2012 alone, 3,472 women and girls were raped, defiled, beaten or killed, according to a statement by the Commissioner of Police John Bosco Kabera to The New Times, July 9, 2012. More than half of newly married women reported suffering physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner. Nearly 80 percent of those women claim the violence occurred during the last 12 months (Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey, 2010).

Before the establishment of One Stop Centers, victims had to first go to the police station to give testimonies of their ordeal, and then travel back to the hospital to receive treatment, and only then received the official report to take back to the police station. No legal counsel was available onsite. The process could take days to complete, with victims shuffled from one service to another, re-living their traumatic experience and sharing the same details with different groups. Many would give up and go home. With the new One Stop Centers, all services are located on the same site. The whole process takes approximately four hours, during which time the victim remains at the Center while a dedicated staff of doctors, nurses, police officers, and social workers handle her case

USAID’s Rwanda Family Health Project is supporting the Ministry of Health in fighting gender-based violence through the establishment of two One Stop Centers in Nyamata and Nemba Hospitals. One Stop Centers offer critical integrated services to victims, including immediate counseling, treatment, lab tests for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, and a physical examination by a doctor. Once exams are completed and evidence recorded, an onsite police officer submits the medical report to the court for legal proceedings.

Olive Mukase, a psychiatric nurse that is trained in dealing with victims of gender-based violence reflects, “It is a cultural and economic matter. In Rwanda, women believe that they need to remain silent so as not to bring attention or trouble to the household. The husband is the chief and a woman must respect what he says and does. Sometimes, she is scared that if she reports him to the police he could be sent to prison and she will not be able to provide for her family.” Ms. Mukase counsels victims and encourages them to help other women in their community find the courage to speak up and get help. Unfortunately, few women that are victims of gender-based violence will seek help, believing that the perpetrator will eventually stop. Only when the violence becomes unbearable do some women seek help.

Marthe Nyirarutimana, a Community Health Worker in a rural village outside of Nyamata, has recently been trained by the Program to raise awareness of gender-based violence in her community and how to refer victims to support services. She shared that before receiving training, she did not think about how, as a community health worker, she would be involved in this issue. She now plays an active role in identifying cases, referring, and accompanying victims to health centers for care and treatment.

Marthe continues to work closely with local authorities to raise awareness of gender-based violence in her community. She describes how at first the community was resistant. After her outreach, members began to discuss gender-based violence-what it is, why it occurs and how it should be handled. Most importantly, the community now knows that the victims should and can be taken to the One Stop Center for help.

One message that was echoed by these brave front-line workers is the need to break the silence around gender-based violence. Olive and Marthe are just two of the people committed to changing gender perceptions and providing services to the victims of gender-based violence in Rwanda. During these 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, support Olive and Marthe and others by becoming a part of the movement that gives voice to victims around the world.

{Berlin-based Transparency International released its yearly index Tuesday based on the perceived levels of corruption compiled from interviews with people in 177 countries.}

Based on expert opinion, the index measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in countries worldwide, scoring them from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Covering 177 countries, the 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index paints a worrying picture. While a handful perform well, not one single country gets a perfect score. More than two-thirds score less than 50.

Among the East African Country, Rwanda ranked as a nation that has seen improvement. In 2009, it ranked 89th in the world and rose to 49 in the 2013 rankings with 68 score.

The report says Tanzania ranks on 111th place with 33 scores followed by Kenya which stands on 136th place with 27 score, Uganda on 140th place with 26 score while Burundi ranks on 167th place with 21 score.

Robert Barrington, executive director of Transparency International, says the worst performing countries are usually those undergoing conflict.

Commenting on Rwanda’s improvement, Barrington says “”Rwanda is a particularly interesting one because it did perform quite poorly for a number of years, but there’s been a concerted government effort to tackle corruption, and that’s now reaping rewards.”

The anti-corruption group lists Somalia, North Korea and Afghanistan as the most corrupt nations in the world.

War-torn Syria has declined over the same period, dropping from the 126th spot in 2009 to 168th in 2013.

Meanwhile countries like Denmark and New Zealand both ranked on the first place scoring over 90 scores. Finland and Sweden followed with 89 score each.

The Report says there is a need for greater accountability and leaders cannot look the other way. But recognising the problem is only the first step – governments need to turn pledges into actions.

It highlighted that all citizens deserve bribe-free services, and leaders that are answerable to the public, not to powerful friends. Working together, we can make this a reality.

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{The details have emerged that many families in Kanyabayonga Territory in North Kivu Province of the DRC are fleeing their homes fearing attacks of the Rwandan FDLR rebels.
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Meanwhile these families have not gone far from Kanyabayonga.

Eight hundred families fled villages of Lusowa , Buheri , Bulindi and Burumbule in the Buito community.

Sources on the ground said these families are fleeing the threat of Rwandan FDLR rebels against their localities about 150 km from north of Goma.

According to local sources, the combatants of the Armed Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) began to threaten the population after leaflets inviting people to dissociate themselves from armed groups were released.

However, during his visit in the territory of Butembo, the Head of State, Joseph Kabila, asked young people to disengage from the armed groups that spread insecurity in this part of North Kivu.

In response to this call, FDLR combatants threatened population of reprisal if FARDC attacks their positions.

Frightened, the population of Buito began last Saturday to empty villages to flee to the Kanyabayonga.

The leader of this group says that some displaced are heading towards the city of Kanyabayonga and others to the city Kibirizi.

For civil society in Lubero territory, the government must accelerate the release of all areas occupied by armed groups.

The company commander of the FARDC in Kanyabayonga says time of wandering with arms on Congolese territory has ended. He invites the Rwandan Hutu rebels to disband and follow the current move of peace.

{Former Rwandan refugees who lost their refugee status in Zambia have participated in a national tree plantation program to thank the Government of Zambia decision to integrate them as well as requesting the Government to give them Zambian Nationality.}

The former Rwandan Refugees donated seedlings of trees to MPs to be planted in all the 150 constituencies in Zambia, and will embark on planting 4,000 trees every year in the next five years as part of their contribution to improve the environment.

And receiving the trees on behalf of the MPs, Chairperson of the Committee on National Security and Foreign Affairs Ronnie Shikapwashya thanked the Rwandan Community for the gesture of supporting the country’s environment.

Chairperson of Ex- Rwandan Refugees Community in Zambia Egide Kazuba Rwasibo said all the 4000 Rwandese will plant a tree each year under the theme “Cut 1 Plant 2”, and hoped that Zambians will emulate and appreciate the tree planting project.

Mr. Rwasibo noted that hosting large numbers of refugees has had an impact on the country’s environment and thus remedial measures needed to be taken to help the situation.

He also thanked the government for the humanitarian gesture of integrating them into the local communities and hoped that the peace and freedom they have been enjoying will be sustained.

The former refugees presented certificates and books on the environment to be given to each MP.

{Rwandan Muslims Association, Al-Amal, has called upon its members to play an active role in supporting vulnerable families across the country.}

The call was made by Mufti Sheikh Kayitare Ibrahim during a community work held in Kamonyi District, Southern Province.

He said that helping needy citizens represents Muslim values adding that “When you help your colleague in need of your hand, Allah will also do the same for you”.

In Kamonyi, about 250 needy people were provided with Health Insurance money and 250 others from Nyarugenge District also got insured.

Al-Amal is an Islamic organization which aims to improve living conditions among poor families. Apart from supporting needy families, the organization also targets to distribute clean water in areas where it is difficult to obtain

angedelavictoire@igihe.com